This invention relates to a battery charging system for electric vehicles. More particularly, the invention relates to a battery charging system which utilizes wind driven generators, solar panels, and a regenerative braking system, designed for charging the vehicle's battery while it is being driven so that the driving range thereof can be extended.
Varieties of electric powered vehicles have been proposed for passenger use, and have become increasingly popular with environmentalists due to their concern over petroleum scarcity and pollution. However, the existing electric vehicles suffer from a major disadvantage over fuel-consuming vehicles, in that the electric vehicles have limited driving range and require frequent recharging of their batteries. In an effort increase the driving range of electric powered vehicles, several references uncovered in the prior art provide electric vehicles utilizing wind driven generators to recharge their batteries. Such prior art devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,746, 4,254,843, 4,179,007, and 3,513,326. Most of the prior art devices employ bulky and awkwardly shaped wind driven generators that have high aerodynamic drag forces associated with them and can lead to a substantial expenditure of energy simply to overcome the aerodynamic drag.
Therefore, there is still a further need to provide an improved battery charging system for electric vehicles. Such a battery charging system should be capable of recharging the battery of an electrically powered vehicle while it is being driven, deriving its electric power from various sources such as the wind, sunlight, and regenerative braking, so that the driving range of the vehicle can be extended. Moreover, such a battery charging system should be capable of converting wind power to electric energy without sacrificing the vehicle's overall aerodynamic characteristics.
While these units mentioned above may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as disclosed hereafter.